1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ladder racks and more particularly to a clamp or latch for securing a ladder on a ladder rack.
It is common for service personnel to transport ladders on ladder racks mounted on the top of pickup trucks or the like.
It is necessary that the ladder be secured to the ladder rack to hold the ladder in place while the vehicle is moving.
It is also desirable that this latch, or means of securing the ladder to the rack, lock the ladder to the rack to prevent unauthorized removal of the ladder.
This invention provides such a device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art discloses a number of ladder racks for vehicles, some of which provide clamping members for securing the ladder in place while being transported. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,667 discloses a ladder clamp extending transversely of a vehicle which supports an intermediate portion of an extension ladder when placed thereon. The clamp portion of this patent discloses toggle linkage moving opposing inverted L-shaped bracket members toward and away from the upper limit of the extension ladder side rails in a clamp and release action of the bracket members when a lever is manually moved in respective directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,331 discloses a vehicle ladder rack for mounting and transporting extension ladders thereon which features a transverse cross member angularly rotated manually in opposing directions by a handle at one side of the rack to bias a spring arm into and out of gripping engagement with one rung of the ladder.
This invention is distinctive over these and other similar patents by providing a housing secured to a cross brace of a vehicle ladder rack which supports an elongated inverted J-shape hook pivoted angularly and vertically toward and away from rungs of a ladder by manually operated linkage pivotally mounted in the housing and connected with the J-shaped hook.